No, that was not a set up line for a joke. By all accounts we are to be getting such an encyclical later this year. Obviously many people are thrilled with the topic. I just think of an article I read about Beijing, where the smog is so bad it is literally harmful to one's health to go outside to exercise. Bad stuff. Others are perplexed at the need for such an encyclical rather than writing about much more important issues such as abortion, Islam, homosexuality, and the like.
For my part, instead of an encyclical on the environment, I'd rather see one on DIY home renovations or something. You know, a paragraph or two with painting tips. Perhaps a section discussing the morality of not getting a permit to do work, and how this ties in with Aquinas' Treatise on Law. For instance, when is state regulation for installing new light fixtures too burdensome? Give me some guidance here! Of course asbestos would be a hot topic, as would contractor fraud. And is browsing online for a new tub surround permissible on a Sunday?
But that's not happening. The encyclical is to discuss the environment and, subsequently, creation. If I had to guess, I would say many protestants will be keenly interested in this upcoming work. At Redeemer, for instance, there was a growing, if not suffocating, emphasis on this earth being the exact place for the "new heaven and new earth" as promised by Scripture. Therefore, the talk was that we were to steward this earth in preparation for this final transformation. As if our actions now would affect the future of the planet for all eternity. Do I hear a Let us Build a City of God? Somehow this idea permeated every class that I took there. What a buzz phrase. But what can you expect in this creation/fall/redemption world?
Yes many are obsessed with the new heaven, new earth subject. Meanwhile, to go back to Aquinas, he simply said a new heaven and new earth must fit our glorified bodies. Not the other way around. I told this to a Redeemer professor once. He seemed to have difficulty comprehending the fact that humans, especially those in the beatific vision in heaven, are more essential to consider than whether or not the maple trees in his back yard will continue to grow when time passes away.
Ah yes, this upcoming encyclical will be a hot topic I'm sure. But to me the whole environment issue boils down to one thing: horses.
Let's face it, our problem is that horses are not picking up the slack. Once upon a time we used horses for everything. We got places. We plowed fields. We even ate them if we were hungry enough. Nowadays, horses do nothing. Not only nothing, they contribute to the problem. The carbon foot, er, hoofprint of horses is astounding. They stand in a field, never working. Some live in heated barns. They get fed hay that farmers have to plant and harvest using smelly diesel. Their water bins are heated with electricity in the winter. Even their fences now, to make sure they stay standing in place, are run by electricity. To use Thomas the Tank Engine terminology, they are not very useful.
Meanwhile people drive cars and trucks everywhere. Horses are too lazy to do it. If, by chance, a horse is used for riding. We have to drive them, in a trailer, to get to their little horse riding 4-H group. Horses used to make the earth vibrant. There was far less pollution when horses worked out in the fields some 500 years ago. Can you imagine Beijing with horses? But now, horses are not only not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. Clearly there will be no horses in heaven. Not in a new heaven and a new earth, anyway. God forbid.
And so, a word of advice for Pope Francis: if you want to write about the environment then you'll need to practice what you preach. That is, ditch the popemobile! It goes too slow anyway. Get a horse.
But will he do it?
I'm chomping at the bit to find out.
Note: not everything I say should be taken seriously.